The musings of a girl in her 30’s who has battled obesity her entire life. She is a former “LapBander” who had it removed due to a chronic slip, but she’s now “sleeved” and ready for the rest of her life! Enjoy the inner dialogue of an otherwise successful woman who battles her weight and health for 30+ years...

Monday, March 11, 2013

New blog? Or just change this one?

I've had enough of my LapBand. No, really - it was diagnosed as chronically slipped in October of 2011 and I've lived with the pain that provides since then because I had (a) an insurance plan that denied removing it despite appeals and (b) no business going into debt for the surgery. It's now March of 2013 - nearly a year and a half after the diagnosis (and, nearly two years after the problems began).

When I moved to the East Coast in the summer of 2011, I was instantly referred to a great bariatric practice by a LapBanded colleague. The people were not only wonderful to work with, but treated me like a human being instead of a number. The doctor and his peeps took time to appeal to the insurance company for me, fighting for my health...to no avail. Since making the choice not to pay out of pocket for the insurance (I was hoping better insurance would be coming my way before I had to be rushed into the ER for an emergency LapBandectomy...or whatever that would be called), I've gained a good amount of weight back and have taken pity on my situation in the form of food. Of course, there were times I would have to force regurgitation of the food because the food stuck in my herniated stomach and esophagus would cause so much pain and discomfort - colleagues, friends and my boyfriend watched me suffer through it.

As a blessing (?), I was laid off from my employer at the end of 2012...you know, the one I moved from the West Coast for. Whether it was the stress of unemployment, interviews, uncertainty, etc. or time had finally taken it's toll, my condition worsened. Regurgitation that was forced 1-2x per week was now turning into a daily (at least!) part of my life. I remember a couple of weeks ago when a morning cuppa joe with creamer caused so much discomfort that I had to force it out prior to taking a shower and getting ready for work.

Yes, you read that right - work. My unemployment stint didn't last long, as I started a new job at the end of January 2013. While the 3+ hours a day in my car (thank you D.C. metro traffic) commuting isn't the highlight of my life right now, the ginormous plus is that I'm pretty sure I'll be able to be FIXED soon! I saw those great doctors last week for a consultation and was sent for a fluoroscopy last Friday - I rushed home with the CD of images I was given and immediately popped the disc into my computer. YIKES! My LapBand is in an even worse position than it was back in October 2011 and my herniated stomach is...gosh...damn near the size of the remaining stomach below?! It's bad, folks. No wonder I've had so many problems, eh?

I'm excited to take the CD to my doc tomorrow when we have our follow up appointment. Without a doubt, we'll be rushing the images and his medical opinion to my NEW insurance company...I'm hoping we'll have no problem with the approval process and that we can do exactly what my doc said last week - "We've GOT to get that thing out of you." If all goes as we intend, I'll be ridding myself forever of the band and converting to a gastric sleeve (I'll save that choice for another blog post). With any luck, this approval process can go so well that we can do it before the end of the month! Who knows? I just may hit onederland in 2013 after all!

So the question is - do I continue blogging on this blog with my new adventure, changing the title? Or do I create a new blog for my new journey?

3 comments:

I changed the name of my blog... my lapband was removed last august and I am being revised to the sleeve next Monday. The Journey "Intermission" was horrible. I feel like a bottomless pit... I am always hungry. I hope that your pain and suffering is over soon, and you will be on your way on your new journey.

Who I Am...

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism." - Abraham Lincoln